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Europe last week finalised plans to launch its Galileo satellite navigation system, the first rival to the US's Global Positioning System. Meeting on 10 December, the EU's council of ministers backed the critical €2.1 billion deployment phase that will see satellites launched and receiving stations built between 2006 and 2008.

Trials for SARS vaccine

A vaccine against SARS, the often fatal respiratory illness, is to be tested for the first time in the US, the National Institutes of Health announced on Tuesday. This follows a successful test for China's vaccine, which this month cleared its first hurdle when it was shown to generate antibodies against the SARS virus in 23 of 24 recipients.

Gulf war compensation

The UN has approved $2.9 billion in compensation for Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iran for environmental damage during the Gulf war of 1990-1991. The money, which will be used to clean up ...

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